Carnations
by Infernal-Nine
Summary: For each grievance comes a chance to be heard. For a chance to be heard comes a price, incomprehensible. To what stakes would you go, to damn those who have harmed you the most to an eternity of suffering? Follow the path of white carnations, and mayhaps you'll find that opportunity waiting in your palms... [Interactive series of one-shots.]


**How far would you go for revenge? Or rather, who would you turn to if others turned a blind eye to your grievances and sorrows? If the material world proves incapable of assisting you in your endeavors, would you not turn towards the supernatural?**

**Levant merely happens to be the answer to those who may, or may not have a vendetta against others. He's an anomaly, and just where does he come from? Why... that isn't too important. The point of this project is to provide both quality one-shots intermixed with both sparse humour and occasional characterization. **

**Another lesson learned... stop watching Jingoku Shoujo and reading about Onryō... **

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What did it take to invoke that spirit once more? How did she call forward something that only few knew merely by word of mouth? Reiko didn't quite know what she was getting herself into when she had, in her doubts and anger towards her father, sought penance for the crimes that she **knew **he had committed. He had killed her mother, he had **killed her **and disposed of the body, chopped her into bits and fed her to the dogs- the police never gave a thorough enough investigation. They hadn't gotten a search warrant and thus, any evidence that could've been considered legitimate was sadly looked over due to the fact that they hadn't even thought of snagging a warrant first.

So, while she sat before her computer monitor, Reiko allowed the first sliver of apprehension to settle in her stomach. "_I can't let him get away with this…" _She couldn't and she **wouldn't **allow that bastard of an old man to get away with his crimes. He needed to pay, pay, **pay! **So mayhaps it was her hasty nature, but Reiko found herself outside before she even knew what had happened. As per instructions?

The chocolate haired girl waited until the full moon to travel into the wilds; living in Johto meant that there were several around, and "_Follow the path of flowers…" _But what type of flowers? Verdant hues glanced around the field of wildflowers she had walked into- it had been a place that she frequently held picnics in with her mother in the summers long gone…

Mayhaps she was sharp of eye, or maybe it was just a stroke of luck, yet from the corner of her eye, she spotted path of carnations - white. Stark white amongst a field of reds and yellows and blues… "Huh?" As if it were beckoning her forward, calling her to something that would be the answers to legends that she felt were naught but old wives tales.

After all, there were such a thing as **ghost-type **pokemon, but never something to the degree of whatever she was diving head first into. Pale pink lips pressed into a thin line as she pressed on regardless. It wouldn't hurt to see, right? To allow her fear to consume her now when she had been waiting for this for **weeks **seemed pointless now.

As Reiko continued to delve deeper into the forest however? Her hesitation and apprehension reared itself once more; "_I shouldn't be doing this… what if-"_ "What if he _didn't_ do it?" Where'd that voice come from?! Filled with a rumble that bordered the predatory and a lilt that seemed refined from years of articulate diction, Reiko found herself glancing throughout the trees clearing that she must have unintentionally brought herself to when she had been lost in her thoughts.

A field of white carnations, spreading as far as the eye can see… a glance back caused the girl's eyes to widen, for instead of the trees that had been surrounding both sides, there was naught but carnations. An endless sea… fingers rose to stroke her collarbone in brief, yet even that too was short lived once she caught sight of the only other presence that could've spoken.

"A Ninetales?" She murmured under her breath - yes, not too far from her, in the dead center of this land of white flowers sat a Ninetales. Fur immaculate and crimson hues dancing with the cinder of life that both enraptured her, and gave birth to a fat bead of cold sweat trickling down the frame of her jaw. "_No, a __**vulpix.**__" _He drawled with a sarcastic bite to his tone- sufficiently heavy enough to cause the girl to recoil.

"I- I can see… where is this place, anyways?" She was afraid; he could **smell** it on her flesh - permeating through her clothes and making the air all the heavier with the dread that only seemed to follow his arrival like a coming storm. Lips curled into a saccharine grin despite the discomfort **dripping **off of the girl's form, and there was naught but a brief hum before Levant even dared to entertain her with an adequate response.

"A Garden of Sin." A what? Why would he ever call such a beautiful place a garden of Sin? From above, the silver light of the moon danced across his pelt, and Levant felt it was good reason for him to stand on all fours and saunter over to the human without so much a warning. With landing of his paw came an array of petals dancing in the air behind him before those were simply incinerated by an unseen force.

Fire and flowers… had she reall- "Now, what do you want, **child?**" He didn't have all day (well technically he had eternity) and he didn't want to waste it on her. "You're here for a reason, aren't you?" There was a lump in her throat for some reason, a lump that had, Her muscles tensed- oh yes, Levant mused internally, she certainly **was** apprehensive. It seemed as if his servants had done their jobs after all, in relaying that silly old wives tale across such a small.

Except… it wasn't quite as silly as one would think it was.

Every bit of fiction had some amount of truth to it, after all. Every bit of speculation was rife with some sort of credible source to it. "Ho hum ho hum~ Did the fox catch your tongue? Tell you what…" Levant crooned, slim form circling around the girl - once, twice, thrice; phantasmal tails drifted across, and through her form as he plucked through each and every memory that she held in that pretty little noggin of hers. The feeling was disconcerting, unusual, it made her feel sick to the very pit of her stomach and violated on a spiritual level, to see that smile grow all the wider and expose a fair amount of flare.

And as before, with each step lifted a petal, and with each petal that was lifted there came a spark of flame -a spark that rose to a column, by the time Levant settled on his haunches once more. A tail rose to brush across the girl's chin, lifting it up for just a second and rolling it around with a surprisingly strong grip with for such a slim little thing.

"You can tell me his name… and take a carnation… I'll give you four days, and four days only and when you come to your choice, you simply **pluck **the petal…" What was she doing? Why couldn't she **move? **Why couldn't she **look away? **The answer? Levant's eyes- not that she knew of course, but that malevolent gleam carried with it an intoxicating effect. She could've been lost in them forever, dumbed to the intelligence of a herd of Tauros.

"Watari…" The name poured from her lips before she could help it, before she even realized what she had said, the name of her father tumbled forward from her very mouth- "Watari-Hatsu." Such **conviction **in her voice! Oh how he **loved **hearing such a spiteful tone…

She knew what she had to ask, didn't she? Her eyes spoke for her, even if she stood there with blank eyes, features illuminated by the flames surrounding both human and vulpine with no small amount of terror dawning on her features. **What had she done?! Wha-** "Oh, the question is there, isn't it? Hmhm~ You still have a choice of course, although I will have you know that your grievances do have a price…"

Deftly, her hands came to clasp in front of her chest, attempting to act as a shield between herself and the fox to no small degree. He was something **odd**, something **otherworldy **and she couldn't pull away. "What would that be?" Reiko managed to exhale, attempting to take backpedal- if only to be met with a searing heat across her back. His smile seemed to grow wider, a touch more spiteful, a touch more **cruel **at that question. Ah, how enjoyable it'd be to twist the words…

"You simply must live with your choice." And that was all? That was **it? **She just had to live with her choice while her father was damned to an eternity of suffering? A fate worst than hell itself? As expected… she accepted. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Levant left a few things out- like how, upon her death she'd be joining her dearest father in his damnation, or how he had even gone out of his way to orchestrate this meeting. After all, a fox had to eat and what was better than adding another two carnations to his garden?

"Remember… you have four days~ And that's all you'll have." She hardly seemed to take any notice, when reality itself began to bend itself away from her, nor did Reiko pick up on the simple fact that she was in her bedroom once more despite having been out in the wilds to search for the fox. The only thing she dare thought of while crawling into bed?

"Revenge was a dish best served cold…" And it had been nearly a decade, since _that day._ A decade; she was no longer a little girl, she was a young woman - nearly 18. This choice was hers… and her old many would pay for his merciless crime.

The consequences mattered not. And as she drifted to sleep? Perhaps she could've caught sight of those crimson eyes, staring from beyond her window with an all too pleased light within them…

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**And this, is merely a rough draft of a concept that I have for a silly little character. You can send requests through either Reviews or through his tumblr**

**infernal - nine. tumblr . com (barring the spaces)- I'll be sure to overlook them; do be warned however, that the rating may be hiked up if so desired; after all... revenge can be gruesome, at times.**


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